Master of the Castle
by FreezePride
Summary: Characters: Even (Vexen), Ienzo (Zexion), DiZ (Ansem the Wise) When the Master returns, who is to blame for the downfall of the kingdom?


Even burst into the room in a flurry of long, tangled blond hair, disheveled lab coats and absolute desperation. To be entirely honest, this was not an uncommon site, particularly when an experiment was near to completion, but he had never quite been in such a state while charging towards Ienzo.

"You must leave." He panted, the voice between his breath in hysterics, clutching Ienzo by the shoulders. "You must leave immediately."To say that the young man was shaken would have been an understatement, but he hid it extraordinarily well behind a placid, uncaring expression. Even was not in the right state of mind. These sorts of mood swings were uncommon for him, but this one seemed strangely concentrated. Those bright, flashing green eyes were locked on to Ienzo, begging him to see reason.

Could he even tell if Even wasn't seeing reason himself?

Ienzo looked straight at him (since he always had that grating habit of stooping to his height when Even spoke to him directly), emulating his intensity but not having the slightest idea where it was coming from. "Calm down, Even." He chided, his expression softening, but staying strikingly constant in the face of panic. He tried to slip away from the other man's grasp, but Even held tight, those wide eyes growing impossibly wider with a sense of dread.

"No, no, you don't understand. You must leave. He simply cannot find you here-" But Even's voice died on his lips as another, far more resonant one interrupted him.

"Stand back, Even."

Even shrieked something unintelligible that might have been 'No, don't!' on one of his better days. As it was, he was now facing outwards, shoving Ienzo behind him and shaking terribly, glancing into the darkness. For all his talk of self-respect, Ienzo had never quite seen him quite so disturbed and unapproachable.

It was a testament to the newcomer's power and strength that Ienzo had not been able to sense his approach even when situated within his own domain. The labs were such an extension of himself recently, he felt he knew them with his eyes closed. He had spent more time there than he had in his own living space within the castle, which was certainly not hard to believe considering the hours that they kept. Even was the one that taught him that work never ended as long as your mind was able enough to continue.

Ienzo peeked over Even's slender frame, quirking a brow on instinct in curiosity. He knew that gait, that slow, measured, patient pace. He knew that single eye which pierced through the former apprentice as though his thoughts were as plain and clear as crystal. Ienzo paused, frozen. He knew exactly who now approached them, and exactly why Even seemed on the verge of hysteria.

"I have already told you, it was my fault. It was entirely my fault!" Even shrieked, shoving Ienzo back once again, perhaps this time just for good measure to make his stance apparent. "Ienzo was a child! Do you remember, he was a child? I should have known better." Even cried, his voice unnaturally raw, an odd tone tinging the words with a nightmarish quality, as though this were all some strange sort of dream, some invention of the inner darkness which Ienzo had created for himself.

Unfortunately, the young prodigy was not quite so lucky to have that be true. Master Ansem stepped forward slowly, his disguise doing nothing to mask him. Even quickly became desperate.

"No, you do not understand! Ienzo had nothing to do with it!" Even lied and lied again, his voice becoming more grated, more labored as the other man drew nearer and nearer. "He hardly knew what was going on at the time. I was blind! I am telling you now, I was blind to it! Xehanort's plans to-"

"Silence, you fool." Ansem had all but whispered it, but it was enough to bring Even's trail of excuses to a screeching halt. He stood there, absolutely dumbfounded as Ienzo peered carefully around the other man.

In their separation, the years had not been kind to his old mentor, Ansem the Wise. The twinkle of grandfatherly kindness which had always been a source of endless comfort for the child prodigy seemed all but snuffed from the figure before him. Though his body was far thinner, he seemed anything but smaller as he stood proudly before them, assessing them both with a cold calculation which Ienzo had never yet seen before.

This was a man of power, a man of promise, a man who had lost all of his potential only to claw his way back from the bottom to the top. As much as Ansem the Wise had tried to avoid the darkness within, he had been consumed by it. He stood before them a changed man, darkened and weathered. More than anything else in that second, he was a man who thirsted, hungered and lusted for revenge.

_That could be used against him_.

The little hint of speculation, of scheming sounded very calmly like Zexion. Useful, so incredibly useful. Master Ansem could easily kill them both at this point. Who knew how the old man had managed to escape from the Godforsaken realm of darkness, but he stood there before him, plain as the bright overhead lights which harshly revealed him. _You could survive this_. There was that voice once again.

Yes, he most certainly could. Hope was gone for Even, he reflected, cold calculation within his visible eye as he stared at the quivering body planted stubbornly before him. Ansem seemed angry enough to strike the former lead apprentice down immediately, without a second glance, but he was calling for Ienzo's attention specifically. He could make use of this anger. He could worm his way into joining forces.

Ansem had loved him after all. Hadn't he? Ienzo looked down once again at Even's quivering hand. He remembered how often that hand had dragged him to the labs to do studies and reports, to the kitchens to get some sort of nutrition, to his bedroom to finally get some rest. The 'fool' comment had struck him dumb, but he hid is expression from the prodigy behind a curtain of blond hair. Of course, that did nothing to hide the pain which Ienzo could all but smell on his entire person.

"Ienzo." That deep voice resounded once again, like the subtle echo. Now was the time, his mind reasoned. If he did not start immediately to change his former Master's mind, he would never have another chance.

But, Even's hand was still shaking. All at once, Ienzo knew beyond a shadow of a doubt exactly what Even feared. It was certainly not death, nor disrespect. He'd undergone both before. This was the loss of something far more valuable, infinitely more precious.

"Don't you dare speak to him that way." Ienzo's voice surprised even him. It was low, frigid and even tasted bitter as he said the words. He slipped his hand into Even's, not at all surprised to find it icy and dry to the touch as he stepped forward fearlessly.

"You may have been 'Master Ansem the Wise', but I hold no allegiance to you. I'll admit that in my youngest days, I betrayed a kind old man who I thought I could look up to, and for that I should apologize. But, truth be told, I am not sorry. I was abandoned by him far before I abandoned him in return but I had the common sense to accepted this and move on. Some," He squeezed Even's hand and without even looking, he knew that the other man was biting his lip and running his hand nervously through his hair in response. "Some held on uselessly, hoping to gain the love and respect of a man who was simply never present." He finished.

"I'll stay here with my father."

The moment seemed frozen in time, held in suspension by crass and harsh lights, shiningly clean lab tables and two academics, cornered by their past. Ansem did not retaliate, he did not pull forth a weapon from the depths of the darkness and plunge it into his awaiting victims, nor did he scream and rant of their sins. He stood, absolutely silent as the grave.

He smiled and without a word, disappeared.


End file.
